The cabinet yesterday slapped down calls from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) for former deputy president Jacob Zuma to be reinstated and for corruption charges against him to be dropped.

In a diplomatically worded statement, government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said government would await the formal submission of Cosatu’s resolution before responding in full.

However the diplomacy belied the disdain that ministers of the cabinet expressed at Cosatu’s “crass” move.

l Netshitenzhe said President Thabo Mbeki would not “break the law, trash the constitution, or undermine our young democracy” by interfering with judicial processes.

Some officials said cabinet ministers had been in contact with Cosatu leaders since the federation’s resolution on Zuma was adopted on Monday night.

They said there was “a sense of embarrassment” from Cosatu’s leaders over the debacle.

The explanation privately given by the federation’s bigwigs — that the resolution was the result of a revolt from delegates — pointed to a “failure of leadership”, said another senior official.

Some Cosatu leaders expressed the fear that the federation’s resolution, which effectively called for political interference in the judicial process, would considerably weaken their attempts to engage the African National Congress (ANC) on the Zuma issue as well as on other points of disagreement with the ruling party.

Privately they felt the federation had backed itself into a corner with a position that was “unsustainable” and could not be taken seriously.

The challenge for Cosatu was now to extricate itself from the fallout from the adoption of the resolution, they said.

With Cosatu leaders still reeling from the constitutional implications of the resolution, government was determined to send a clear message that Zuma’s firing was irreversible.

Netshitenzhe yesterday emphasised Mbeki’s right to appoint or dismiss members of his cabinet.

“On the issue of the composition of the executive, this is a prerogative of the president, and he pronounced extensively on this matter in Parliament a few weeks ago.”

With those words cabinet moved to put an end to the public discussion of Zuma.

However, private consultations are to continue between Cosatu and the ANC over the deep divisions wrought by the Zuma debacle on the alliance.

Senior ANC officials have since Tuesday called for an urgent bilateral meeting between the alliance partners.

Such a meeting would mark the first bilateral meeting between Cosatu and the ANC since 2002, and will be the first time the Zuma matter will be raised in an alliance forum since his sacking.

Senior alliance figures are understood to be deeply concerned about what is shaping up to be the most divisive issue to date between the allies. One official said the Zuma issue was “Winnie multiplied a thousandfold”.

As Zuma’s October trial date draws nearer, the divisions within the ANC and its alliance are set to deepen, withleaders privately conceding the issue could even split the party.

Managing the fallout would be a litmus test for the organisation and its leadership.

However, the immediate challenge for the ANC would be how Zuma reacts to the Cosatu resolution, said a member of the party’s national executive.

Earlier this week Cosatu leaders meeting at Kempton Park were at pains to douse the storm over Zuma, after members had ignored what Cosatu chief Zwelinzima Vavi described as the federation’s “complex and nuanced” support for Zuma.

Cosatu at first called for Zuma to be tried in court on the grounds that he was innocent until proven guilty, but later changed tack to say that while it supported Zuma’s right to a fair trial, it was firmly opposed to a corruption trial. Cosatu officials conceded that the federation’s Zuma resolution had put the organisation in a corner.

Sources in Cosatu, which has launched a Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust, said the federation was struggling to sort out the “mess” created by its support for Zuma.

Vavi told the 500 delegates: “To be clear, Cosatu only supported the right of comrade Zuma, as a matter of principle, to be treated fairly.

“Should he be found guilty after the due process of law, Cosatu shall be unwavering in demanding that the law must take its course.”

Vavi said that the federation had failed to communicate its “complex and nuanced” position on Zuma to the public.

With acknowledgements to Karima Brown, Vukani Mde and the Business Day.